Between work and some computer/network projects at home, not to mention the bitter cold and our slush- turned-ice bobsled tracks called roads, haven’t been out much shooting. Been pretty busy designing test support equipment for a new turboshaft engine for Sikorsky’s new CH53K heavy lift helicopter. What a machine that will be. Three 8,000 hp engines in a helicopter! That’s more power than on a C130! At the bottom of the engine link you can see the engine in it’s test stand. Unfortunately the real interesting stuff that the engine actually connects to is off to the right, not in the photo. Got two additional projects going with this engine, different places, and more travel in store, back to Singapore in a week and to Munich in February.

Also set up several new computers at home, one machine with Mandriva 10 for desktop use and another as a server using Centos 5. The server is replacing a couple of machines that were starting to fall apart, and is used primarily as a samba file server, and a mail server running postfix with amavis for virus and spamassassin for spam filtering, plus the usual dhcp and dns servers. That brings the computer count in my house down to nine when you include windoze, laptops, and Imac machines. It takes quite a bit of tweaking to get everything on the server working just right, but once it’s going it will run for years with little attention. The last one sure did, had been running on a now ancient version of Fedora. Linux has it’s benefits.

Not sure when I’ll post again. Hopefully not to long from now.

After having walked around the area in the evening, I barely recognized the Singapore riverfront during the day time. What a difference lighting makes. This is the Fullerton Hotel, another Singapore landmark rich on history, on the Singapore River. I think I’ll ask to be put up there next time I’m in Singapore. Yeah, sure :)

Back from a short trip to Singapore, I managed a couple of photo outings in the evening. The heat and humidity, though it’s now the ‘cool’ season, was difficult to deal with. No matter how much your pace yourself, it doesn’t take long to turn into a sweat soaked mess. At times the relative humidity is so high raindrops seem to materialize out of nowhere. Always carry an umbrella with you, and a small towel to wipe the sweat of your forehead.

This is the Lionhead, the national symbol of Singapore. Located in front of the Fullerton Hotel along the Singapore river, it is a main attraction for visitors.

This one was bit tricky as I had only the length of a red light minus turning traffic to stand in the middle of the road.

Out on a photo shoot with a group of photogs, there are always friends and some of the photogs that volunteer to be models. Not sure who this lady is (photog or friend of one).

On a model shoot I ran across this beauty. I love the way she wears her shawl, the way her hair lays on it. I forgot to get her to sign a model release. Hope I won’t get sued.

This week, after a short battle with cancer, Ralph passed away. I only got to know Ralph during the last few years, when he would visit us at our camp site over in Wisconsin at family reunions, which were organized near his and his brother’s home town to make it easy for them to participate. Ralph was a cheerful person, even when he was cranky. You couldn’t help but like the guy. He was a Vietnam vet, patriotic as can be. We take solace in knowing the pride he would felt and everyone else felt being honored by fellow vets as he was laid to rest.

Having shot almost exclusively with a wide angle lens since I started this blog, I’m getting more used to my newly aquired zoom lens. The DOF compression, narrow DOF at wide f-stops (check Mr MB’s example), ability to isolate the subject, are all features used effectively by many to create interesting photos. To bad I got it so late in the season. On the other hand I wouldn’t have it at all had it not been for the theft of my camera gear.